Sunday, November 23, 2014

Gorbag and Grishnákh... the two faces of Stephen Ure.

I have had both these figures lurking in the lead pile for a long time, and it was about time they got some paint. I also decided to upgrade the models by giving them a shield each. Again , these were cast in Milliput from Instant Mold, copies of Morannon orc shields, upgrading them both from D5 to D6, at a point cost of 5pts, well worth it I think.

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Grishnákh.

From Wiki:"Is Saruman the master or the Great Eye? We should go back at once to Lugbúrz."—GrishnákhGrishnákh was an Orc captain from Barad-dûr in the service of Sauron in the Third Age, who led a host of Mordor Orcs to join Saruman's Uruk-hai soldiers who were taking Merry and Pippin across the plain of Rohan to Isengard, in The Two Towers.Grishnákh is described in the book as "a short crook-legged creature, very broad and with long arms that hung almost to the ground" and as having a voice that was soft but evil-sounding.Grishnákh's plans for the two captives, Merry and Pippin, were in conflict with Uglúk's orders to deliver them to Saruman unharmed. Grishnákh wanted to take them northward to the east-bank of the Great River where a Nazgûl atop a Fell beast would take them to Barad-dûr. After Uglúk refused his plan, Grishnákh slipped away while the Orcs and Uruk-hai argued amongst each other. Grishnákh soon returned with other Orcs like himself, Orcs with drooping arms and shields with the red eye painted on them.

Grishnákh was somehow aware of the existence of the One Ring (having been implied to have participated in the torture of Gollum), and suspected the two Hobbits of possessing it. When the Orcs holding the two Hobbits were attacked by the banished Éomer's Rohirrim, Grishnákh used the distraction to search the Hobbits for the Ring. Pippin tried to negotiate with Grishnákh, asking for himself and Merry to be freed in exchange for information about the Ring, but instead Grishnákh tried to carry them away. When it seemed a Rohirrim rider had discovered him, Grishnákh drew his sword to kill the Hobbits lest they be rescued or escape, but before he could act he was shot in the hand by a Rohirrim arrow and dropped the sword, at which point he tried to run but was ridden down and run through with a Rohirrim spear.

The skin tone is not the best match to the movie character, but I went from the painted example on GW site:

GW Grishnahk

In the game Grishnákh has the same profile as a regular orc captain, but has an additional Might point, taking him up to 3.

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Gorbag.
From Wiki:Gorbag was an Orc captain of Cirith Ungol, originally from Minas Morgul.After Shelob paralyzed Frodo Baggins, an Orc patrol led by Gorbag and Shagrat came across his cocooned body, taking him back to Cirith Ungol where they planned to torture him. While sifting through Frodo's belongings, a dispute began between the two captains after Shagrat claimed ownership of Frodo's Mithril vest, which escalated into a vicious fight all over the fortress between Morgul Orcs and Black Uruks. Gorbag survived much of the fight but was eventually killed by Sam.Tolkien's first ideal name for Gorbag was Yagúl, as told to the History of Middle-Earth: part 4, Sauron Defeated.

In the live-action film, Gorbag and Shagrat have a major role reversal. In the book, Shagrat informs Gorbag of the nature of Shelob's venom and how it functions, whereas Gorbag assumes this role in the film and explains it to his fellows upon finding Frodo. Also, Shagrat is the one to claim the vest for himself, while Gorbag insists it be taken to Sauron. After the fight, Shagrat flees to the Black Gate with the mithril shirt while the wounded Gorbag is left for dead in the tower. He was in fact still alive and was about to torture Frodo when Samwise Gamgee impales him from behind. He was portrayed by Stephen Ure, the same actor who played Grishnákh in the previous film.

Again, in the game Gorbag has the same profile as a regular orc captain, but has an additional Might point, taking him up to 3.

14 comments:

excellent work on those bad guys ! You know what I think about the "orc-skin": we are free to choose our colours, even in the movies, it's just an interpretation! but in my opinion, it's a good choice here, especially the fact that both don't have the same colour, they are not of the same specie !

i had issues over skin colours with Uruk Hai. then fact is that quite often the film skin colours just don't scale down and, in particular, allow for shading. So although I follow the film colours for clothes as much as I can the skin of orcs and Uruks I tend to follow the GW interpretation.

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About Me

Long time gamer, starting with D&D basic set, as a pre-teen, way back in early 80's, though I no longer find time for RPGs. Now mostly a war-gamer and miniature painter and terrain maker. I am not the best table top tactician, but enjoy all the hobby offers; painting, terrain making and gaming.

Huge fan of Tolkien and MiddleEarth, and after LOTR movie trilogy was released, visited NZ with my wife Tracey. Liked it so much we emigrated there in '05. We have two great kids Chris and Becky.

Finished my first bit of new kit for Konflict '47... the German Spinne (Spider) Light PanzerMech. A light recce walker with Light AT g...

Wargaming

In terms of gaming and figure collecting I prefer the 28mm scale for just about all periods; ancients, medieval, pike and shot, horse & musket, WWII and fantasy/Sci-Fi. Its just a nice size figure to paint, for the detail without being excessive in size, nor too fiddly to handle.

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